A few weeks ago, my son convinced me to download Minecraft on my iPad. He’s been playing it for a few years now and is at that stage where he is entering portals, creating drop world and doing parkour. Meanwhile, I’m at the basic level….
I’m just going to put it out there. I don’t know what I’m doing when it comes to making videos. For the last six weeks, I’ve been experimenting and trying things out. Every time I get ready to publish a video, these fears swirl around…
It was about five years ago when a boy walked up to me and asked, “Hey Mr. Spencer, can you talk to the district and see if they’ll open up the library over the summer?” “I don’t think they can,” I answered. “But the city…
For our number one choice, we went with someone who is not actually a professor at Hogwarts. You guessed it. Argus Filch. That’s right, the mangy, angry caretaker of Hogwarts. You know, the guy with the cat? Okay, we didn’t choose Filch. We actually chose…
Professor McGonagall isn’t very nice. But that’s actually what makes her so great. Confused? Let me explain. Being nice is about being pleasant and agreeable. Minerva McGonagall isn’t like that. She’s firm to a fault — like the way she refuses to let Harry go…
At first glance, it would seem that Hagrid has all the makings of a great teacher. He is willing to take creative risks. He has a deep and passionate knowledge of his content area. And most importantly, he cares about his students. But unfortunately, content…
Warning: this post may contain spoilers. If you haven’t read the books, go do that now and then come back to this post later. Let’s just put it out there. Hogwarts is probably a terrible place to send your kids. It’s dangerous, and I’m not…
What happens when you give students exemplars? Do they simply copy the pre-existing examples? Do they fail to take creative risks? Do they internalize the idea that their work must fit a previous model? Does it implicitly tell students “this is what it should look…
Limitations and challenges can be frustrating. However, they can also be the creative constraint that leads to problem-solving and divergent thinking. Over the years, I’ve learned that students love challenges that they find engaging, intriguing and meaningful. Some of these are practical and real-world. Others…
Subscribe to YouTube Channel I used to teach a class called photojournalism. I usually referred to it as “digital journalism,” because people assumed we were a photography class. Students created videos, podcasts, documentaries, and blogs with the goal of sharing their work with an authentic…